Day 1, Dec. 2, 2008 - Arriving in Puglia

Today I arrived in Puglia (aka Apulia). I have been invited on a FAM trip, which is a 'familiarization' trip for people in the Travel Industry. The goal of a FAM is to get professionals familiarized with a specific place in order provide us with the knowledge and know how to promote and sell it, thus increasing tourism. I have never been to this region before, the most south I've been is to the island of Sicily and I'm looking forward to experiencing all new types of sights, sounds and smells of the south. Oh and of course .... FOOD is a high priority!


To be more concise, I arrived in Bari, actually. I had to take 3 flights to get here – Newark to Frankfurt, Germany, Frankfurt to Milan and Milan to Bari. My first experience with connecting flights. I was apprehensive to even go on this trip when I saw the flight schedule because I’m used to flying direct into Rome or Florence, or Athens if you will. However, beggars can’t be choosers and this was a free trip. I decided that I was focusing on the small things and not the great experience I would have in this region that I would have never thought of visiting. So I sucked it up and decided to go.

Right now I am at our first hotel – the Tentua Cocevola in Andria.

I arrived in the dark but the property looks quite expansive and I will be sure to walk around the grounds tomorrow. I ended up getting here late. I had to wait for 5 other peoples’ planes to land for us all to be transferred to the hotel. So I sat on the bus for like 2 hours. Thank God I had my mp3 player!

I am quite exhausted! I didn’t sleep on the planes any. I was actually a little excited to by flying into Germany, though. I mean, I knew I wouldn’t have any time to go explore the city, but something about Frankfurt raised a magnetic pull inside of me. Plus, I was excited to try some German food in the airport! Once we arrived at the airport, it was a little uneventful, I spent some time wandering around and finding my gate. I was searching for somebody to take my work AMEX card so I could get something to eat, but only one place I went to accepted it and I ended up getting a chocolate croissant and a cappuccino for breakfast. So much for German cuisine.

The cool thing about the airport is they have Camel Smoking Booths throughout all the gates, so you can light up inside, if you feel the desire, without having to exit the airport and go back through the long, meandering security lines. That is totally awesome! God forbid you see something like that in America! Plus each gate has free coffee, tea, water and newspapers; another plus in my book.

So now that I am here, sitting in my room, I am feeling the jet lag/exhaustion/lack of sleep. It is 6pm, Italian time, which is 6 hours ahead of Eastern Standard American time, and we are supposed to have dinner at 8. I hope I can stay up!

The hotel is really nice, and huge. It’s like a villa. My room has 1 double bed and a twin bed. Pretty cool.


I’m so happy we don’t have to share rooms! My only gripe about the hotel is … there is no bar soap! I couldn’t wait to wash the airplane off of my face and I was super excited to see what types of toiletries I had in the bathroom, but to my disappointment – only shampoo/body wash. What the hell? I have to wash my face with body wash?! Screw it, I did it anyway. I’ll probably end up having a breakout. But everything could have been worse- some people ended up having FOUR flights - and they still aren’t here yet.

I want to sleep so badly but I know I have to stay up for dinner and to meet everybody.

First impressions of Bari – well, it’s hard to get an impression of anywhere from the airport because they are always so far away from the city center, but it seems very untouched and untainted by tourism, which is a good thing. The rolling, seemingly limitless green of nature that I saw on our ride to the hotel combined with the umbrella palm trees lining the highways were just lovely. We passed a lot of marble quarries along the way here.


And, as usual, the Italian sky is just marvelous! It is one of the things I miss most when I am not here. The sky in NY/NJ is just so pathetic and lackluster in comparison. It’s all grey and the clouds are mere shadows. In the Italian sky, they play around, dance with each other and take on wonderful shapes. They remind me of big puffy marshmallows that you could jump up and down on, and the sky is so blue! Ah, breathe in, I’m in Italy! And at the heel of the boot! Hello, Adriatic Sea!

Day 2, Dec. 3, 2008 - Andria & Martina Franca

I’m having such a great time! Dinner was pretty cool last night. For appetizers, we got to taste some Puglian specialities – burrata cheese (it’s like milky, stringy mozzarella and mm mm delicious), fried dough balls (fritelle), olives and bread. Yummy! I tried Prosecco for the first time – not too bad! A little bubbly, but definitely something I can drink. At the dinner table, I met this lady, L, who is really cool – she thinks like me. I took a seat at the end of the long dining table, because I was really too tired to socialize with everyone. She ended up sitting across from me. We sat there and listened to everyone else talking and kept throwing each other glances at the ridiculous behavior of some of our fellow tour mates. Judging by the characters I have seen so far, this is bound to be an interesting trip.

The Early Morning View from my hotel room

This morning I walked around the hotel grounds and they are so beautiful! There are green and black olive trees about and the grass is so green! Against the backdrop of the rich blue sky, it was breathtaking. You can also see the castle from here, rolling hills, vegetation, farms, such rich colors, like a water painting. I inhaled the fresh air deeply, wanting to hold a part of it inside me forever.

At breakfast today I had 2 double espressos with a teeny bit of milk (in Italian a ‘doppio macchiato') and then we loaded on the bus and were on our way to visit the Castel del Monte , built by Frederick II, in Andria. I’d never been to a castle before so I was a little excited.

It was very foggy and misty out which made for a really dreary and medieval setting for our walk up to the front door.

It looked kind of mirage like, if you will, and didn’t seem real until we were standing right in front of it.

It’s 540 meters high and in the shape of an octagon and has 8 octagonal towers. Its purpose and design are up for debate. Some think the shape of the octagon – circle and square, represents the relationship between man and God. Some think it was a hunting residence.

Going inside was a little uneventful, it wasn’t decorated or furnished or anything, but was still an experience worth noting.

After, we drove on to the downtown part of Andria. It was so cute, all of the locals were turning to stare at us on our little tour bus.

We walked to town hall to meet the mayor. He wasn’t there at the time so we met his representative who thanked us for coming and for promoting the region, and then we each got inaugurated as ambassadors of Puglia, complete with medals. (I'm not in this picture!)

We were being filmed the entire time as well. Guess we’ll be on Italian TV tonight!

I had the best and most filling lunch today! We drove out to the restaurant Antichi Sapori in Montegrosso.

Upon our arrival, the owner was waiting for us. Before lunch, he walked us out to his vegetable garden. He said that people come here and pick what they want to eat out of the garden and then he prepares dishes with it. How cool is that?! The garden was huge! We saw broccoli rabe, eggplant, chili peppers, rosemary, sage, oregano, squash, leeks, parsley, lettuce, onions, tomatoes and a whole bunch of other stuff. He even has a 1000 year old olive tree in the garden.

In the restaurant we had a 20 (maybe even more) course meal. Oh my goodness, we were so stuffed! We kept thinking it was over and then nope, more dishes would come out of the kitchen. Some of the best food (and wine) I’ve ever had. Everything was so fresh.

There were so many dishes, I can’t even remember what they were! I think I gained 5 lbs from that meal alone.

After lunch it was on to Masseria Chiancone Torricella in Martina Franca for a sight inspection. A masseria is like a farm house turned hotel/restaurant. They surprised us with a Falconry show.

There were 4 men in tights and medieval garb that were doing tricks with the falcons, symbols of victory, and vultures.

I saw the most beautiful owl in the world! It was part of their animal collection, but they didn’t do tricks with it. Its mere appearance was stunning! It just stared with these huge, glowing orange eyes.

It was pretty big too. I asked the guy if I could pet it and he said yes. When I went up to it, it started hissing at me, so I said “Are you sure?” He said, “Go ahead.” So I did. Once I started petting it, it stopped. That was definitely a highlight for me. To pet the animal that symbolizes wisdom. Such a gorgeous creature it is.

I got to catch a falcon on my arm too. That was awesome!

(Now I can say that I've touched wisdom (the owl) and caught victory (the falcon)! Mission Accomplished!)

Then we were entertained by two men dressed as knights who demonstrated a sword fight with techniques and moves from medieval times. I enjoyed that as well.

After the show, we went inside the masseria for a wine tasting, which was a little boring. The "wine snob" woman was showing us how to taste wine. Personally, I just drink it, I’m no expert nor do I intend to become one. We tried this regional Moscato wine. It was not good to me. It was thick like honey and just had the taste of stale urine with a hint of sweetness. Tasty! Turns out it’s used in many cake and sweets recipes. I’d probably enjoy it more baked into something than by the glass.

At night we went back to downtown Andria to go to a ‘fokloristic event.’ It turns out that this event was just for us!

They had a local band playing Puglian music and once again MAD FOOD! There were like 3 food tables – one for cheese, one for hot food and they even had a desert table with cookies and wine. Everything I tasted was delicious!

I got interviewed for a TV show. The lady was asking me what I thought of Puglia and if I liked the food. Um, look at this stomach - of course!!

I have a feeling that this trip is gonna do me in, as far as the weight department goes! But I am rationalizing it by saying that if I’m having a great time eating it, then there’s no harm, no foul. We also saw some women making orrechietti macaroni and a wood carver making picture frames that were so elegant.

I ate fresh mozzarella, more burrata cheese, vegetable patties, a big bread bowl filled with orrechietti pasta and pignoli cookies! They have this really delicious regional dish here composed of fava bean paste with chicory greens, which you put on top of the paste. It is so yummy! I have to try to make that at home.

I am so touched by the townspeople’s generosity and warmth! And needless to say - I’m in my glory here. I feel so fat!

Day 3, Dec. 4, 2008 - Andria & Trani

So apparently, I was on TV last night. Yep. Some people in the group saw my interview. How cool!! I can’t get a straight answer on what channel it’s on from anyone though. They said our inauguration ceremony was on and then the event from last night was on. I hope I can catch it!

The people at this hotel are very attentive. Whatever you ask for – coffee, hot water, wake up calls, etc. they give you – but still no bar soap! The hotel staff doesn’t speak English here and I’ve been a few of the tour members’ translators for getting them things here in the hotel. I don’t mind, it gives me a chance to practice. But I’ve been trying to figure out how to say bar soap in Italian! (um, ‘sapone duro’?? No clue)

Today we visited the Mario Mucci candy museum in Andria and the Olanda cheese factory.

The Candy Goddess - a frescoe on the store's ceiling

The candy museum was kind of boring for me, but we got to sample some stuff. What was cool was they had silver candy, which I’ve never seen before.

I didn’t buy any though, I want to save as much money as possible for Bari. J, and I were so totally bored at the candy museum, we decided to take a walk across the street to the outdoor market. There wasn’t much there – a vegetable vendor, fish vendor – holy squid – and a meat vendor.

Now I had heard from someone in the past that some parts of Puglia serve horse meat but I didn’t entirely believe it until I saw it here. Yep – there was a little plastic horse on top of the glass meat case, and sure enough, that’s what was inside. There was a bowl full of stomach (tripe) floating about in water on the floor next to my foot. Hopefully, none of these things will be on our menu!

The Olanda cheese factory was interesting.

Owned by the Olanda Family, naturally!

Elephant Shaped Cheese

Burrata Cheese

Fresh Mozzarella di Bufala Cheese

We saw the workers preparing and stretching the crap out of hot mozzarella cheese.

They showed us how they make burrata and cacciocavalo cheese as well. We had a tasting afterward which was, again, really good. I tried this “Ricotta Forte” which means “strong ricotta” and oh my! it actually burns your tongue, but tastes really good. I tried the yummy smoked mozzarella, more burrata – my new love, a mozzarella and prosciutto roll and provolone. I actually also had the best olive oil I’ve tasted so far, ever, in the cheese factory.

By this time outside it was drizzling and we left the cheese factory for the sea town of Trani, where we were to have lunch. Yes – we were to have lunch right after this tasting we had at the cheese factory – do you see a pattern here?! We keep eating back to back.

It was so windy and cold in Trani.

Oh, why didn’t I bring my gloves? Still a little cloudy as well. I hope we see some sun at least for one day! Trani is very pretty though, we walked to the port to get to the restaurant.

It reminded me of the port of Palermo, Sicily with all of the boats and stuff, and the sea was very pretty against the gold-tipped clouds from the sun hiding behind them.

The restaurant, Le Lampare Al Fortuno, was right at the edge of the port – and in a big stone building reminiscent of an old fort or something.

Inside it was so elegant and upscale, with the entire interior made out of stone as well.

Turns out the restauarant has only been open for a few days and we are the first people they have had for lunch. Our highly decorative meal consisted of all fish dishes. Now, we all know, fish is not my favorite thing, but I figure a) when in Rome and b) well I’m sure it’s totally fresh here, unlike home, and if I’m ever going to try it, I may as well try it here. Surprisingly, I found most of it to actually be pretty good!

We left the restaurant and walked around the town of Trani. I took some good shots of the sea – while they were inside paying the bill, I kind of wandered off by myself for a few minutes.

I wish I had more time by myself, but hopefully we will get that tomorrow in Alberobello. All these years of independent travel have spoiled me!

After the bill was paid, we walked to the Cathedral of Trani, by the sea.

Honestly, I’ve grown tired of churches and the like. I think I have also been spoiled by the churches in Rome, and not another anywhere else can compare. But, I'm seductively drawn in by the stunning backdrop of the golden stone church against the azure blue sky and sea. So, I captured some photos of this rather than what was inside.

Finally, when we were finished touring the church, we came back outside. By this time, the sky had turned this wonderful hue of pink, intertwined with the blue of it’s natural state. I ran up to the railing to catch a picture of it against the sea and then saw the castle of Trani. All of these wonderful colors combined and swirled together from nature’s amorous affair between sky and sea, and the majestic stance of the castle - I was absolutely spellbound by the entire setting. I went to take a picture of it and sure enough – my camera battery died. “No!!!” I cried. “Come on, just one picture, pleeeease!” I took out the battery and put it back in a few times. After the third time, it finally captured a picture of this inspiring poetic moment. Hooray!

Tonight was our farewell dinner at the Tenuta Cocevola. It was very nice, there was a piano player who was playing throughout the evening. I sat with my ‘East Coast’ friends again. We are becoming a little clique. We had a funny conversation at dinner about the bidet.

J said he never used it because he didn’t know how to or what it was for. I told him it can be used to wash your ‘parts’ after an intimate encounter and that I’ve used it to wash my feet once when I didn’t want to shower. I told him he should use it when he has that ‘not so fresh feeling.’ Then I explained that the main use was – pardoning my bluntness – for when you take a sloppy sh*t and need to clean your butt. He was laughing so hard and said he was now even more scared to use it! Haha Our crew always has such a blast!

Day 4, Dec. 5, 2008 - Alberobello - Land of the Trulli

Today we departed from the hotel in Andria. We headed by bus to Alberobello, home of the world famousTrulli houses.

On our way we saw some trulli which were really cool and kind of rustic looking. The guide said that they are not original trulli but were modeled after the UNESCO trulli site. They use the modern ones to store grain to feed the animals on the farm – the flat roofed ones, that is. They pour the grain through the hole in the top and take it out from the bottom when needed. The original trulli are houses and people still live in them to this day. Nobody knows the origins of the original trulli or how old they are. I read that they made them without any hardware or something like that, so that they didn’t have to pay tax on their dwellings, and they could break them down if necessary and put them back up once the government left them alone. Something of that nature, I’ll have to look it up.

We drove past the initial trulli, desolate to the highways and ended up in Alberobello, the UNESCO Trulliland site. The bus parked and we walked about a mile to the restaurant for lunch. Lunch was a lot of fun. J kept topping off my wine glass with the wine called ‘I due trulli’. It was yummy but I didn’t want to drink too much in fear of stumbling, or falling rather, downhill on the steep trulli streets.

T, J and I were getting a little antsy for free time, so I decided to go out and smoke a cigarette and walk around. While I was smoking, we walked to some little shops and I saw some protection symbols on top of the trulli roofs of a shop. I wondered aloud what they meant. Next thing, we were inside and T was asking the shop owner. She said they were Christian protective symbols and proceed to pull out a paper diagram with all of the symbols and their meanings. Cool! I want that! I thought.

She said if I bought something, I could have it. Well, before I left my mom had said to buy her a trullo, because she’s been wanting to buy one and live in it for a few years now. I didn’t have enough money to buy her an actual trullo, so I figured a little ceramic one would suffice, and hey – now I get a free gift with purchase! I noticed there were a bunch of magical symbols on the paper that represented Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter and a few other things. Really awesome! I hoped I could find some!
When we got back to the restaurant, everyone was crowded around the tour guide, Sonia, who was giving us a walking tour of the Trulli. She was leading us toward the more boring side of the trulli. (where the more modern part of town is) I wanted to go up into the core of trulliville, where there are 1500 trulli in a village. So, I left the tour and went a walking. Oooh, finally! Free time!!

Walking around the village was fun. Mostly the trulli all look the same, but I was surprised to see places of business inside them – bars, shops, enotecas… pretty cool!

Since I was on my own, I had asked another tourist to take a picture of me in front of one of them.


I walked along the tiny pedestrian streets and came up to a trullo that said in Italian “see how one lives in a trullo.” Awesome! I thought. Although when I went in, the lights were out. I turned on the light in the living room and looked around real quick. It was pretty cute and definitely habitable.

There was an extra room in the back, but I didn’t want to go all the way in because I didn’t know where the owners were.

On my quest for magical symbols, I came up dry. When I walked back to meet the group, I asked the guide about it. She said that no one really uses them anymore, usually nowadays they are Christian, but you can find some astrological symbols here and there. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any.

J and I took a walk while we were waiting for the shuttle back to the bus. We went in a shop and tasted limoncello – much better cold, now that I’ve tasted it – by the way. And I saw a gelateria with wine and beer flavored gelato. I have been pretty much wined out from this trip from the non-stop overflow of good wine, so I figured there was no need to try the ice cream. Definitely cool to see though.

Goodnight, Trulliville! I trulli, trulli love you!

Finally, we got on the bus and were on our way to our next hotel – the 5 star luxury spa & resort – the Borgo Bianco.

When we arrived, I was in heaven! The desk clerk showed me to my room and my first impression was personified basically by my jaw dropping in awe. When I entered I was in my living room, complete with a work desk, sofa and armoire. Then I opened the door to my room – crisp white blankets, comforter, pillows, a flat screen tv and another desk and closet.

Inside the closet were 2 pairs of fresh, fluffy white slippers and a fluffy white robe – all for me! The bathroom was next – the tub was huge! And … bar soap! Hallelujah! I was so happy! I have a little patio with a lounge chair, table and two rattan chairs as well. Can’t tell much of the view since it was night time, but I am seriously contemplating “calling in sick” tomorrow and just chilling in my room. But if I did that, I may miss something good.

Ah, just showered. For the first time on this trip, I actually feel clean! No more body wash without washcloth. Bar soap is where it’s at! We have dinner at 9pm. Now I’m going to relax and hope that I don’t fall asleep before dinner.

Day 5, Dec. 6, 2008 - Ostuni & Polignano a Mare

Oh my goodness! I’ve never seen so many sweets for beakfast!! I wonder how the Italians’ teeth do not rot!



A smorgasboard of cakes, cookies, cornetti, oh my! Since I’ve been eating my weight in cheese, bread and pasta, this morning I decided to stick to the basics and at plain youghurt with honey (thank you Athens for this new custom of mine), wheat toast and a fruit plate, topped off with a doppio macchiato. (Trying to save the pounds where I can)

This morning, we took a ride into the town of Ostuni, which means “white town.” It’s a town heavily influenced by the Greeks, as you can see the minute you step into it. Everything is white and so beautiful.


We had a little walking tour, and yes, more churches (I’m getting so tired of them!) and then finally, free time. I hit up the tourist information office and found out that tonight is Ostuni’s ‘White Night’ celebration, like a precursor to Christmas, if you will. I was a little sad that we won’t be here for that. I wanted to go down to the sea, but it was about 8KM away from the town center, and my boots were starting to hurt my feet. So, I took an alternate route and just kept walking downhill to get a better look at the water.


The town is so beautiful. I love the play on color of the crisp white buildings against the royal blue sky and the emerald green grass and rich brown earth. So simple, yet complex.

I was looking for something ‘Ostuni-like’ to buy as a momento, but was coming up empty. I could have walked up about 200 stairs to get to the other part of town, but by that time, my feet weren’t going to have it. So, I just stayed around the area I was in and walked around. I did end up buying a postcard.

We ate lunch at the Relais Sommita, a hotel that we had an inspection at. It is right in the center of Ostuni and it is huge! There are amazing views all throughout the hotel and they have a Turkish hammam!

The food here was also a work of art – sesame covered grilled chicken skewers, artistically arranged caviar and lox, spoons of pesto and calamari, more spoons filled with some kind of lobster cream cheese currant berries, cheese (of course) and really yummy vegetable quiche tarts. For desert we had cookies, fruit, pastries and fresh cream whipped up with berries on top. So fresh and so good!


Oh – how can I forget - wine, naturally, served in glasses as big as my head!


After lunch, the Marketing Manager of the Borgo, arranged for us to have a tour of his town - Polignano a Mare.

We met him in the town center for a walking tour. Oh boy! I think this is my favorite place so far! The streets are tiny, people are in your business, laundry is flying, drying in the refreshing sea mist, I love it. And the sea view, wow!

Just gorgeous! It reminds me a little bit of Cefalu, Sicily. So clean, so clear, so blue! I wanted to stay and stare at the water for hours. Even though I can’t swim, it soothes and inspires me to witness how powerful nature really is.


I also saw drips and drabs of poetry written on walls, stairs and buildings throught the little town. So romantic and so Italy! :Sigh:


Now we are back at the Borgo. I can’t believe that tonight is our Farewell Dinner here already and tomorrow is our last day! It’s so sad for me. I really love this region and the people in it and I hope to return one day on my own. I’ve entertained the thought of staying or taking a ferry to Greece, however I don’t have all that much money.

But I don’t want to leave!!

Day 6, Dec. 7, 2008 - Bari

This morning after breakfast, we drove to Bari to meet with our tour guide. She lives there and was giving us a walking tour of her city. We walked to ‘Orrichietti Street’ in the old town and saw all the little nonne (grandmas) making the pasta right outside their doors.

It was totally the flavor of Italy I had been waiting for! Laundry hanging all over, the streets as wide as 3 people, neighbors shouting out windows, yes!!! This is it!

The streets are like little zigzags, definitely easy to get lost, but hey – that’s part of the fun of it!

After our tour, we ate at a restaurant in Bari. It was really nice, but I was itching for me free time to go shopping. See, I had been looking forward to this day the entire trip! I wanna explore!! It turns out that our time was going to be cut short to 2 hours instead of 4 because we learned we had to go to the Artichoke Festival later on, so I cut my lunch short to have more time to walk around.

To my surprise and disappointment, when I left, EVERYTHING was closed! It was Sunday and time for their siesta. Damn, I should have realized that, but the truth is, they have you running around and doing so much, most of the time, I didn’t even realize what day it was, let alone the time!

Nothing would open again until 4:30 and we had to depart at 4:45. Bummer. I love Bari, though. It’s just like Rome. City, like that. I would so live there!! While it was a shame nothing was open, I definitely got the jist of the city’s flavor and want to taste more. I walked through the old town a bit, and everything was desolate. No sound, nothing.


As I was walking I passed three guys smoking a joint and one of them asked me if I was Pugliese. I just kept walking. Passed up a chance to meet some Italian men, yes, but a) they weren’t very cute and b) I’ve read about the petty street crime in Bari and if they tried to jack my purse or something, no one was around to save me, so I figured it best to keep it moving.

After that experience, I decided to turn around and head back to the new part of the city. I walked by the port to see the sea. I love all of the colorful little fisherman boats floating in the water. So picturesque!


Since nothing was open, I decided to go into the enormous Castello del Svevo to kill some time - my second castle ever.

Unfortunately, it was quite uneventful, I mean there was nothing really interesting except for one room where the had sculptures salvaged from churches. I saw some really cool griffin statues eating a man, snake and a bird.


That was about the most exciting thing there, but hey – it was 2 euro and I had time to kill!

We all met up at a café to catch the bus and I noticed the girl at the counter spoke English like an American. I asked her, in Italian, where she was from and she said “Chicago.” Turns out that was her father’s bar and she moved out there. I would so love to have something like that! I’d move to Bari in a minute!

After everyone arrived, we got on the bus for a 1.5 hour drive to Trinitapoli for the Carciofi Festival. No one on the tour was really excited to go (even though I was secretly a little excited myself because I loooove artichokes), it was more of a thing we ‘had’ to do. Finally, after the long ride we got there and were told we have a ½ hour to look around.


I was done in like 5 minutes so I went walking into the town and guess who I bump into but T. He’s like “Look who it is!” All I can do is laugh because we are so similar. We walked back to the festival and got a free box of sea salt, which weighed like 5 lbs. We tasted some artichoke pesto and some pastries and then met back up with the group. A guy on our tour bought me my first Italian hot chocolate – ciocolatto caldo. Oh my goodness! It is like a liquid chocolate candy bar – all thick like that, and absolutely delicious!

Then, we learned there was a tasting to be had, just for us, and we took our designated seats on the benches outside. Before you know it, we are being served plates upon plates of fried artichokes, artichoke cake (my new personal favorite), chocolate cake, olives, wine and local beer.


Then the TV cameras then came in and surrounded us, along with the mayor, who thanked us for coming, and then a local band and folkloristic dancers. They put on a show for us.

The funny thing was, we ended up being the spectacle, rather than they, because all of the locals were crowding around us to see what the big fuss was about.


The song ‘Volare’ came over the loudspeaker and we all started singing it. It was so cute – every time the chorus came on, the Italians chimed in. They thought it was the funniest thing! They seemed so happy that we were there and I never felt that from a people before. I love them all for it! It is virtually impossible to capture the spirit of these people with a few unjustified words.

Now I’m at the hotel in Bisceglie. It’s funny – the first time I have a room with a sea view and I can’t “sea” sh*t! It’s dark out now and tomorrow we have a 4am transfer to the airport so I won’t be sea-ing it at all. I can hear it though, and that’s pretty awesome. To be frank, this hotel kind of sucks. I heard it was like ‘in town’ only, I didn’t see any town close by. Some people are staying up all night because they want to sleep on the plane, but I think it’s best for me to get some sleep because usually, I’m the one who doesn’t sleep on the plane. I have a 3:30am wake up call.

I really don’t want to leave. I have had such a great time, met such great people and made new friends, seen so many new things that I would have never experienced if I didn’t come. I’m happy I got over my initial wiggins of the flights and came.

The memories and good times will always remain imprinted in my heart. Until my return, I thank you, Apulia, and hope to have more people travel to your magical land and experience your beauty!

Salute!

La Rosa Siciliana